Homer

Homer is traditionally regarded as the author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, the two foundational epic poems of ancient Greek literature. Little is known about his life; ancient accounts place him in Ionia (modern-day Turkey) and describe him as a blind bard, though these details are likely legendary. The epics were composed orally, probably in the late 8th or early 7th century BCE, and later written down. The Iliad recounts the wrath of Achilles during the Trojan War, while the Odyssey follows the hero Odysseus’s ten-year journey home. These works established the epic genre and profoundly influenced later Greek and Roman literature, as well as the entire Western literary tradition. Homer’s themes—heroism, fate, hospitality, and the human condition—remain central to literary study. Despite ongoing scholarly debate about the poems’ authorship and composition, Homer’s legacy as the wellspring of Western epic poetry is undisputed.